Thread by @sheshapatangi1

Veergatha of Kanhoji Angre – The Undisputed and Undefeated Sea Hawk.

Remembering #KanhojiAngre, the Admiral of Maratha Navy who remained undefeated till his last breath.

In the 1700s, one man antagonized the European powers, and insisted on the Maratha Empire’s rights to

taxation and sovereignty over Maharashtra’s coast. He was Kanhoji Angre, the head of the Maratha navy.
The first important naval figure in modern Bharat, Angre managed to maintain an unquestionable hold over a heavily disputed stretch of coastline throughout the early decades

of the 18th century. At its peak in 1729, Angre’s Maratha fleet held a mere 80 ships, many of them little more than overgrown fishing boats engineered by the local kolis (fisher folk) who populated his domain. Yet with the combination of that modest fleet and an unsurpassed

strategic mind, Angre established a fearsome authority in the name of the Maratha Emperors over a vast swath of Bharat’s west coast. The competition was fierce and came from some of the greatest powers of the day – the Portuguese, the British, and the Mughals in the form of

their coastal vassals, the Siddis.

Infact he was often classified as a pirate by frustrated European powers vying for total mercantile control over trade routes into and out of India’s west coast.

Angre’s family were from Poona, Shivaji had installed Kanhoji’s father as

commander at the coastal fort of Suvarnadurg. Kanhoji most likely received a traditional Brahmin upbringing before entering the fledgling Maratha navy around the age of 15.

Inheriting no more than 10 ships, Angre used what resources he had at his disposal – namely teak forests

and a humble seafaring population of fishermen – to develop a unique fleet and military techniques to match it. With smaller ships, simpler technologies, and no experience in classical maritime warfare, Kanhoji, says Cmdr. Narayan, “realized he could never fight an overt war

with the Europeans, so he started [using] guerilla warfare. He knew his coast; he knew what the advantages of fighting near the coast were.” These guerilla techniques transformed Angre into the most dreaded figure in the Konkan.
(Commander Mohan Narayan - Curator of the Maritime

History Society in Mumbai)
Kanhoji started his career by attacking Merchant Navy Ships of British East India Company, and later extended his attacks against all European Occupiers.
Since his appointment in 1698 till his death 31 years later, Kanhoji remained undefeated.

In 1698, Kanhoji made Vijaydurg as his first base, than made Kolaba as operating base.
Today's #Alibaug is a township founded by him.
Kanhoji built a port at Purnagad.
These bases were used for military and also for commercial purposes wherein he took taxes for ships which

sailed through these regions.
East India Company President begged him to spare British ships and eventually a short lived treaty was signed.
#ManoharMalgaonkar, in his book Chhatrapatis of Kohlapur, notes, “Since the Portuguese and the British resented Angre’s control of the

sea, they were in a constant state of conflict with him” (110). Angre’s interference with trade, which was indeed considerable from a purely practical standpoint, had less to do with European antipathy toward him than his audacity in claiming that he or any local power could

claim equal political rights along the coast. Had the Portuguese and English accepted Maratha sovereignty in the Konkan, they may never have faced any serious interference from Angre’s guerilla navy.
The word “Navigate” originated from Samskruta word “NAVIKA” and yet our history

books doesn’t speak about our Naval Power once Bharat had, nor the 60 Year In Power Government did anything to bring back lost glory.
By the time of his death on 4 July 1729, Kanhoji Angre had emerged as a master of the Arabian Sea from Surat to south Konkan. He left behind two

legitimate sons, Sekhoji and Sambhaji; four illegitimate sons, Tulaji, Manaji, Yesaji and Dhondji. Angre's Samadhi (tomb) is situated at Shivaji Chowk, Alibag, Maharashtra.
After Kanhoji, his son Sekhoji continued Maratha exploits at sea till his death in 1733. After Sekhoji's

death, Angre's holdings were split between two brothers, Sambhaji and Manaji, because of divisions in the family. With the Marathas neglecting naval concerns, the British soon found it easier to defeat the remnants of the kingdom.

#ForgottenHeroes
#PunyaSmaran
#VANDEMATARAM